For a few years now, I’ve been thinking about this question: “Why are so many spiritually oriented people experiencing so many weird physical symptoms?” I know tons of people who are doing “all the right things” - they eat well, they exercise, are tending to their inner life, and are walking the talk of becoming conscious. So what’s up with the food allergies, the chronic fatigue, and the often un-diagnosable potpourri of pain and general chaos in the body?

I went through it myself. I’ve had my share of weird physical stuff – debilitating rashes that made even the touch of my clothes painfully unbearable (don’t worry, I didn’t walk around naked for two years) and adrenal fatigue, to name a few. One has to wonder, why?

This is a tough subject to attempt to write about because when you're suffering, nothing makes sense. You don’t want abstract conjectures about your process. You just want to feel better.

I read an article the other day that featured a photo that said – “You Can Heal Yourself.” In the article, Dr. Lissa Rankin talks about the body’s self-repair mechanisms and a radical new intake form for doctors, which would include questions like:

·What might lie at the root of your health condition?

·What does your body need in order to heal?

·Is anything keeping you from being the most authentic, vital you?

These are great questions, and I love that she is bringing this much needed perspective to the medical community. Still, my stomach goes in knots when I see articles telling us we can heal ourselves. For people with chronic conditions, it can feel like a trap. “So, you’re saying, I created this and I can heal this,” which, instead of being empowering, can lead to feeling even worse. On some level, it can feel like, “It’s my fault.”

In a recent article, I talked about how subconscious beliefs run 95% of the show. When you can follow the bread crumbs back from symptom, to related emotion, thought and belief, you are on your way to healing at the core. Mind/Body Medicine certainly speeds up the healing process. As Dr. Rankin states in her book Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself, “The body is brilliantly equipped with natural self-repair mechanisms that reduce inflammation, alleviate pain, fix broken proteins, kill the stray cancer cells we make every day, fight infection, and prevent major disease. But those natural self-repair mechanisms only work when the body is not flooded with stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine.”

But here’s the catch: many people expect that once they’ve gotten to the source of their stress, the body should simply heal - quickly. And often that does happen. But, that has not been my experience. My symptoms took years to heal. And on subtler levels, I am still healing. It’s a process that can take time.

So, what might be the purpose of such a process?

According to Kabbalah, true healing is about transformation. And this transformation must occur through a natural process in order for the changes to be “wired in.” At the core, it’s about the soul’s return to a higher truth being expressed through the world of physicality – a type of return from exile. As our consciousness expands, the body must also transform itself in order to be a strong vessel for the expansion.

We can heal ourselves. But, we can’t do it alone. We need a trustworthy team of support who can help us address all levels of healing – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. And, as challenging as it can be at times, we must trust the process. There is something beyond our understanding that is occurring through all that we experience - something that not only transforms us, but transforms the world around us. As we heal, the world heals.